Recent Star Formation in 0.5 < <i>z</i> < 1.5 Quiescent Galaxies
Abstract Observations of massive, quiescent galaxies reveal a relatively uniform evolution: following prolific star formation in the early Universe, these galaxies quench and transition to their characteristic quiescent state in the local Universe. The debate on the relative role and frequency of the process(es) driving this evolution is robust. In this Letter, we identify 0.5 ≲ z ≲ 1.5 massive, quiescent galaxies in the Hubble Space Telescope/UVCANDELS extragalactic deep fields using traditional color selection methods and model their spectral energy distributions, incorporating novel UV images. This analysis reveals ∼15% of massive, quiescent galaxies have experienced minor, recent star formation (<10% of total stellar mass within the past ∼1 Gyr). We find only a marginal, positive correlation between the probability for recent star formation and a measure of the richness of the local environment from a statistical analysis. Assuming the recent star formation present in these quiescent galaxies is physically linked to the local environment, these results suggest only a minor role for dynamic external processes (galaxy mergers and interactions) in the formation and evolution of these galaxies at this redshift.
Authors
- Matthew Hayes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8587-218X)
- Ray A. Lucas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1581-7825)
- Zhiyuan Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7673-2257)
- Rogier A. Windhorst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8156-6281)
- Marc Rafelski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9946-4731)
- R. W. O’Connell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8190-7573)
- Sugata Kaviraj (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5601-575X)
- Harry I. Teplitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7064-5424)
- Norman A. Grogin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9440-8872)
- Nimish P. Hathi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6145-5090)
- Kameswara Bharadwaj Mantha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6016-300X)
- Anahita Alavi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8630-6435)
- Alec Martin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6632-4046)
- Christopher J. Conselice (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1949-7638)
- Seth H. Cohen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3329-1337)
- Anton M. Koekemoer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6610-2048)
- Bahram Mobasher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5846-4404)
- Michael J. Rutkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7016-5220)
- Vihang Mehta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7166-6035)
- L. Y. Aaron Yung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3466-035X)
- Xin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9373-3865)
- Yicheng Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2775-2002)
- Claudia Scarlata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9136-8876)
- K. Nedkova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5294-8002)
- Bonnabelle Zabelle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7830-363X)
- T. W. Hagen
Institutions
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- University of Hertfordshire (GB)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Minnesota State University, Mankato (US)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Utah (US)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR)
- National Astronomical Observatories (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
- University of Missouri (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Published
- 2025-04-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adbe7c
- Primary Topic
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- Swinburne University of Technology
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities